Take A Stand

All over the city, culture is dying. The places that once made Berlin special are disappearing: Clubs are closing because the new neighbours sue them. Theatres are being forced to move because rents are skyrocketing. Affordable spaces for artists and creatives to experiment - and for others to watch them do so - are disappearing at a dramatic rate. But profit-driven urban development isn't the only reason why. More and more often, government regulations are also making it difficult for culture to survive in the city. A spectre is haunting Berlin right now: the new form of provincialism that all too often is seen as the answer to the challenges posed by the growing city. Controlling entry to public parks? Stopping spätis from opening on Sundays? Full-scale surveillance and restrictions placed on peaceful cultural events (Karneval der Kulturen, the 1st of May)?

On the banks of the Spree river, on the border between Mitte and Friedrichshain, the conflicts of the growing city are converging dramatically. Over the past 10 years, almost the entire riverbank has become a paradise of property speculation. Maximum density, expensive, grey, soulless. Many people fought for the referendum "Spree Riverbanks For Everyone" - including us. The Holzmarkt didn't exist back then, but we took the matter seriously: What was once a space for subculture has today become a public space for the neighbourhood, for visitors, for the city. It's a space for those who use the city – not just for those who own the city in order to make financial gains. But now that looks set to be our downfall: Many people come here, to the open riverbanks of the Spree, to hang out on beautiful summer evenings, which is why we are now being told to put up fences and to take last orders at 9 pm (!). This would destroy the soul of the project and its economic basis.

But the conflicts unfolding at the Holzmarkt are merely the expression of an overriding question: How can Berlin "grow up" without destroying the city's DNA? How can we save what makes us unique? How can we avoid the fate of commercialization and uniformity that other big cities like New York, London or Paris have suffered, by countering it with a sustainable, alternative vision? After "poor, but sexy", what actually comes next?

Curfews, bans, surveillance - that can't be the answer. Let's take a stand together to save the creative spaces in this city. Against the new provincialism, which believes itself to be the answer to the problems of an ever-growing and ever more expensive city, but which in reality is entering into a sinister alliance with profit-driven urban development to stifle the city's culture.

Berlin was always a place of dreams, a place that was different. Participatory. Creative. Wild. Open! But the winds have changed and the city is standing by while its last remaining creative spaces are wiped out. What will be left is a big city just like any other big city: Uniform. Provincial. Elitist. Closed!

Let's not allow that to happen, let's take a stand together! We are Berlin. And we have a say!

WE CALL FOR:

• Spree riverbanks for everyone! Now, just like back then!
• Dialogue not bans! Smart ideas for tackling the challenges and opportunities posed by the growing city.
• Mutual respect not curfews.
• Protection for cultural spaces, neighbourhoods and milieus together and beyond district borders.
• Putting noise control regulations under closer scrutiny! To preserve the dynamic and vibrant city.

THIS PETITION IS ADDRESSED TO:

1. Berlin district councillors and members of parliament

2. Berlin city councillors and senators

3. Federal policy makers (noise control regulation is federal law)

Want to take a stand on behalf of an institution, company or person in the public eye?

We are very happy to receive public displays of support for our petition from non-private individuals. Please send us an email with all the necessary information to zeichensetzen [at] holzmarkt.com (zeichensetzen[at]holzmarkt[dot]com)

We are taking a stand: